THE STORY – The most gifted footballer of his generation was finished. Retired in disgrace at 25, he appeared destined for permanent exile from the sport he loved. Incapable of blind obedience, Eric Cantona was a libertine who bridled against conformity whenever he felt its grip tighten. The French branded him unmanageable. But the fire that burned in Eric became the spark to ignite a dynasty at Manchester United. At turns thoughtful and explosive, Cantona reveals how legendary manager Alex Ferguson channelled the brilliance of this most captivating and unpredictable of athletes. A tale of friendship and fatherhood, Cantona and Ferguson’s testimonies reveal how a man misread as hostile and unknowable was finally understood, loved, and forgiven, by the strictest disciplinarian in football.
THE CAST – Éric Cantona, Alex Ferguson & David Beckham
THE TEAM – Ben Nicholas & David Tryhorn (Directors)
THE RUNNING TIME – 115 minutes
Premiering in the Special Screening section of the 79th Cannes Film Festival, “Cantona” is an engaging sports documentary about French soccer star Eric Cantona. Co-directed by David Tryhorn and Ben Nicholas, their previous footballer documentaries include “Pelé,” “El Caso Figo,” and “Untold: Vinnie Jones.” As such, their latest is an intriguing portrait of its gifted but volatile subject, offering insight into a player who was frequently misunderstood throughout his brief yet extraordinary professional career.
Tryhorn and Nicholas open their film with a quote from Baudelaire about “the flower of evil,” expressing a contradiction between the beautiful and the tarnished that will be repeatedly explored throughout the rest of the documentary. It’s followed by a prologue, which zips through Cantona’s various early achievements and disgraces in rapid-fire fashion, including a famously bad-tempered TV interview in which Cantona said he would “piss on the arse” of the attending pundits, before throwing in the Pope for good measure. Thereafter, the film settles into a more traditional structure, complete with captions: five numbered seasons (“Season 1,” “Season 2,” etc.), interspersed with three digressions into his past, each labeled “Flashback.” Accordingly, Cantona’s story unfolds chronologically, told through a combination of archive footage and present-day to-camera interviews. Perhaps surprisingly, Tryhorn and Nicholas have limited their talking-head interviews to just a few key figures. These include Cantona himself, former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, David Beckham, Cantona’s first manager Guy Roux, and Cantona’s parents, Albert and Eleonore Cantona. However, that stripped-down approach ultimately pays off, making this feel much more intimate and insightful as a result.
The majority of the film is centered on the years Cantona spent with Manchester United, under Sir Alex Ferguson, having previously played for seven previous clubs in a short space of time, often leaving after a controversial incident, such as throwing a ball at a ref, or contemptuously tossing his football jersey on the ground. To that end, he was already a problematic figure when he signed with Manchester United, but Ferguson’s extraordinary gamble paid off, and Cantona’s remarkable talent transformed Manchester United’s fortunes, leading many to call him the greatest footballer of his generation. However, in January 1995, Cantona angrily attacked a fan, launching a flying “kung fu” kick at him, which led to his being banned from football for a lengthy period. Despite a triumphant eventual return, the constant tabloid pressure and media attention evidently took a toll on Cantona, and he retired from football in 1997, at the age of 30.
The section of the film that relates to the kung fu incident effectively forms the backbone of the film, because it perfectly illustrates Cantona’s inherent problem – he was immensely gifted on the pitch, but seemingly unable to contain his anger or frustration. Cantona himself proves remarkably candid and insightful on his own character flaws, acknowledging that there is a flame inside him that needs to be fed, and that that flame was capable of rearing up and destroying everything, even when he was at the peak of his success. Rightly or wrongly, the kung fu incident also gives rise to the film’s three funniest moments, the first when he says, in the present day interview, “I should have kicked him harder, because he deserved it,” and the second in the famous archive clip where he was expected to apologise in a press conference and instead walked out after making a pointed dig at the assembled press by saying “When the seagull follows the trawler, it’s because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea.” The third moment is similarly amusing and equally insightful, effectively crystallizing the film’s portrait of Cantona as a man who remains true to his principles and his character, regardless of the expectations and the restrictions placed upon him. In an interview with football presenter Dickie Davies, Cantona is presented with a leading question about whether the incident ultimately changed him for the better, and he replies simply, “No.”
The film is also surprisingly emotional, particularly in the depiction of the relationship between Cantona and Ferguson, who have nothing but warm, glowing things to say about each other. Cantona freely admits he was searching for a father figure and found one in both Ferguson and his previous manager, Guy Roux, at Auxerre. One particular highlight, which might be considered an Easter egg, involves a chuckling Roux telling the cameras that Ferguson originally came to him for tips on handling his volatile star and was told simply, “Love him.”
The final section of the film is a disappointingly brief look at Cantona’s post-football career, skipping too quickly over both his film career (though his role in Ken Loach’s “Looking For Eric” is used for illustrative purposes earlier) and his paintings, and sadly not covering his poetry at all. In the case of the paintings, this feels like an oversight, because a closing sequence involves him painting several simultaneous canvases on the ground in a field, and it would have been interesting to hear him talk about his process.
It’s short, but this is a well-made sports documentary that explores a complex figure with insight and candor. It’s also sufficiently well-balanced to ensure that there is something here for football fans and non-football fans alike.
